Oliver Morgan obliterated his own British Men's 100m Backstroke record by more than half-a-second and Matt Richards triumphed in a storming Men's 100m Freestyle final as the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships lit up Thursday night in London.
On top of those sensational results - which saw the quartet of Richards, 17-year-old Jacob Mills, Tom Dean and Jacob Whittle qualify for the World Aquatics Championships as a Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay foursome - there were two S14 European records for Mark Tompsett in the multi-classification 100m Backstroke, an S14 world record for Will Ellard over 100m Freestyle, plus Eva Okaro and Angharad Evans dropped huge personal bests to book their Worlds tickets to Singapore as well.
The noise was incessant at the London Aquatics Centre, and never more so than when Olympian Morgan set a stunning new British record of 52.12 to defend his 100m Backstroke crown, moving into an early lead but truly asserting his dominance over the final 25m, surging home and touching 0.58s inside the mark he set at this event last year to ensure a chance to challenge the world's best in the summer. Jonathon Marshall looked good in taking silver, 0.01s off the Worlds selection mark, while Matthew Ward rounded out the podium.
"We knew there'd be something quick in there, everything in training was pointing towards going that way. I've had a pretty busy year with university and just trying to get that done, so we sat straight after the Games and spoke out the next four years which I guess I haven't ever done before. One, that was a weird conversation to have, and two, we thought my swimming this year wouldn't be that fast with putting uni first - so to be going 52.1 [is great], and the training I've been doing has just been backing that up," said Morgan.
"I'm loving it every day, getting better and better, each week in training has been doing something phenomenal so I've been loving it."
Right before that swim, Paris Paralympic bronze medallist Tompsett showed his quality over the 100m backstroke in the multi-classificaton contest, competing well with Ellard to power to the British title in a huge new European record of 58.28, dropping half-a-second from his morning swim - also a European record and inside his classification's requirement for the Para Swimming World Championships, also in Singapore. Ellard was just behind for silver, with Louis Lawlor rounding out the top three.
"Oh I feel amazing - I did it in the morning which was a big shock as I didn't think I could do it, but coming into the final I knew I already had the time to be in for selection on the team but to to go out and smash it again was amazing really," said Mark.
"My coach just said to go out with the same speed as this morning, and then to just focus the last few meters keeping the head back and stroke rate high - which I tried to do and it kind of worked so very happy. I'll keep trying to work on that time even more and giving my competition in Singapore something to think about."
The speed just kept coming from there, the night rounding out with some incredible freestyle contests.
The conclusion to that was a stellar Men's 100m Freestyle showpiece that saw Richards dictate the race to defend his British title ahead of teenager Mills, who delivered brilliantly after ranking second in the heats to also dip inside the 48.06 Singapore mark in a new PB of 48.03.
Behind them, Tom Dean looked good in his sole event of the meet to take the bronze, while Jacob Whittle's time in fourth ensured that quartet all booked Worlds tickets via the Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay qualifying time.
Reflecting on the race, double Olympic champion Richards said: "That was really, really good, I'm really happy with that. It's always tough in these British finals, especially that 100m Freestyle, it's the first one of the week - it's always such a cagey race, you never really know who's going what, how anyone is going to swim it, so it's almost a more challenging race to tactically get right than it is on a world level, because you know these guys so well that you almost expect things from them - and then if you don't see it, you overthink during the race.
"So I'm really pleased with that, to get another 47s under the belt, I can't complain with that at all - that's booked the 100m in Singapore, it'll be really good."
Another sprint freestyle contest on the night saw Eva Okaro follow up her maiden Olympic selection in 2024 by going inside the World Championship selection mark in the Women's 50m Freestyle to ensure she will make a Worlds debut in July.
The Repton competitor lived up to her lane-four placing after the heats by clocking a big new PB of 24.48, keeping her pace all the way to the wall. Silver medallist Rebecca Guy followed her in, ahead of a tie for bronze between Skye Carter and Darcy Revitt.
"I wasn't expecting to go that fast but that was amazing! The last year gave me a lot of experience, it has helped me get my mind in the right headspace in the competition arena and dealing with the crowd and stuff like that - so I think it's helped me in a sense just to calm me down and keep my nerves before a race and that's really beneficial for me," said Eva.
The multi-classification Women's 50m Freestyle was nearly as close as that battle for bronze, with S11 swimmer Scarlett Humphrey shining to triumph by a single point over Callie-Ann Warrington (S10), while Rebecca Redfern was third. The Men's MC 100m Freestyle was another close one, as Tomas Navarro-Barber (S9) won his second British title of the meet with a well-judged swim, ahead of S10 duo Kieran Williams and Roan Brennan respectively.
In the Women's 200m Breaststroke, University of Stirling athlete Evans delivered on the promise she had shown earlier in the season in that event to provide yet another Singapore qualification mark on the night. Kara Hanlon pushed her well over an intriguing first three laps, before Evans picked up her long and strong stroke rate for a fast finish that saw her inside 2:22 for the first time, a PB of 2:21.86 getting her on the plane for the summer.
The night began with Paralympic champion Ellie Challis once again showing her quality on backstroke as she claimed the Women's MC 50m Backstroke, her time of 56.25 also seeing her go inside the S3 qualification time for September's Para Swimming World Championships.
"That's what I wanted coming into this meet was that time, and I know I can go home happy - I've got another swim on Sunday so we'll see what happens, but I'm happy with the meet so far," she said. Claire Connon was in silver, with Tully Kearney taking bronze.
In the open final, 2023 World Championship bronze medallist Lauren Cox displayed an impressive stroke rate to sprint to the gold, getting the better of 18-year-old Blythe Kinsman, who took silver in promising style. Kathleen Dawson rounded out the podium.
There was a first British title for Reece Grady in the Men's 1500m Freestyle, leading from the front to take gold ahead of Alexander Sargeant for silver and bronze medallist Luke Hornsey.
